Driving in central London

[Deleted member 6183]

My work is about to take me all over the South of the UK and, for the first time, London.

I've never driven in the City before and I know that some of you either live or work in London.

Does anyone have any tips for me?

I can't get to all the places that I need to visit by public transport and, in a lot of cases, will need some items that I carry in the car so I'm not going to use trains or buses.

I've done a route planner and can see that I'll definitely be in the congestion zone and noticed many recognisable parts of town such as Westminster.

I'm used to driving in large cities, Bristol, Leeds, Manchester e.t.c.

 

[verytalldave]

London is on its own as far as driving goes in the UK.
You will need to be super attentive and get in the right lane early. Dont expect to get let in by anyone, although a few taxi and bus drivers might. Expect to give way everywhere unless you want end up with battle scars.
Expect every set of traffice lights to have cameras and DONT enter zigzag boxes unless yor exit is clear. There are cameras everywhere. Dont park illegally. You WILL get a ticket within minutes. Wardens are super quick.
Know exactly your route. There are so many one way systems it beggers belief.
Driving in central London is not for the faint hearted, inexperienced or ditherer. It helps if you have good nerves and a low temper threshold. You will need both in bucketloads.
Good luck.

 

[BTB 500]

Satnav helps.

 

[kwakdonut]

So do blinkers

 

[MBManInKen]

I'm used to driving in London and know my way around Central London very well.

My advice would be to do yourself a big favour and stay out of Central London with your car. You will find it very frustrating and there really is little point in it. I don't know from what side you intend to enter the capital or where you mainly will be doing your work, but find a location where you can leave the car (car park) next to a tube line and use the tube to move around. If your hours are flexible enough, plan your day so you use the tube off peak and you'll find it much more pleasant.

There is just no quicker way to go round Central London. Leaving your car in the centre is very expensive and you'll continuously be stuck in traffic.

Satnav does help, but bear in mind that the situation in London is in continuous flux and satnav maps do struggle to keep up with the inner London situation.

 

[Spinal]

I drive regularly to central London, and try to avoid it when I can... it's not as bad as other cities around the world, but the congestion really gets to me. It's not uncommon for a journey to take twice or thrice what the satnav predicts...
M.

 

[Ade B]

Use decent observation, indicators and don't rush and its fine.

Central, central london is pretty much a crawl in a car but around the edges of the middle is fine if you allow plenty of time.

Avoiding rush hour transforms the journey - basically if you want a clear(ish) drive miss between 8am and 10am and 4pm to 6pm and thats everywhere.

Keep an eye out on bus lane restrictions, as you can use them a certain times and many people dont.

Try to leave room at lights and junctions for motorbikes - they always miss your mirrors even though they get pretty close sometimes.

Ade

 

[Deleted member 6183]

I'm used to driving in London and know my way around Central London very well.

My advice would be to do yourself a big favour and stay out of Central London with your car. You will find it very frustrating and there really is little point in it. I don't know from what side you intend to enter the capital or where you mainly will be doing your work, but find a location where you can leave the car (car park) next to a tube line and use the tube to move around. If your hours are flexible enough, plan your day so you use the tube off peak and you'll find it much more pleasant.

There is just no quicker way to go round Central London. Leaving your car in the centre is very expensive and you'll continuously be stuck in traffic.

Satnav does help, but bear in mind that the situation in London is in continuous flux and satnav maps do struggle to keep up with the inner London situation.

I wonder if I have mis-read the route planner, or maybe the planner has simply taken the most direct route without any concern for the practicalities.

For example, one day this week I intend doing 3 visits in the postcodes SE19 to SE27, I shall be arriving on the M4 from the West.

 

[ackee911]

Not as bad as the first few posters are saying, but driving with a cool head will help a lot.
Better to not go into the C charge, and use bus/tube/taxi's etc. But if you are carrying stuff around, then I see why that will be difficult.

2 things you must think about:
1) Not a lot of parking in central.
2) Rush-hour will at least double ur trip time.

 

[ackee911]

I wonder if I have mis-read the route planner, or maybe the planner has simply taken the most direct route without any concern for the practicalities.

For example, one day this week I intend doing 3 visits in the postcodes SE19 to SE27, I shall be arriving on the M4 from the West.

SE19 and SE27 are south london-way out of central london. Plenty of places to park, and traffic is not too bad. From the M4, you could jump onto the south circular and it will bring you right into forest hill/west norwood.

 

[MBManInKen]

I wonder if I have mis-read the route planner, or maybe the planner has simply taken the most direct route without any concern for the practicalities.

For example, one day this week I intend doing 3 visits in the postcodes SE19 to SE27, I shall be arriving on the M4 from the West.

Satnavs are unable to understand the practicalities of inner London driving. SE19 and SE27 are adjacent I think, so that's kind of the Crystal Palace area. You have the option of coming in on the M4/A4, but don't go all the way into the Central zone (Earl's Court), then South, because you'll find the traffic horrendous. You could get on the A205 in Kew, then towards Wandsworth and onto the A214.

However, even the coming in on the M4 in rush hour will be a disaster. The much maligned M25 anti clockwise down to junction 7, then north onto the M23/A23 might be quite a bit quicker and less stressful, even if much longer in distance. In the morning rush, the anti clockwise M25 between the M4 junction and the M23 is busy but usually moving reasonably along and so quite doable (contrary to the same section clockwise).

Timing to avoid the morning rush is altogether the best option. Personally, I would look at live traffic info before setting off, then making a decision on what road to take based on that info.

 

[Ade B]

I wonder if I have mis-read the route planner, or maybe the planner has simply taken the most direct route without any concern for the practicalities.

For example, one day this week I intend doing 3 visits in the postcodes SE19 to SE27, I shall be arriving on the M4 from the West.

My neck of the woods, drop in for a cuppa.

The Sat Nav route is not bad but there is always heavy traffic around Hammersmith, Wandsworth and Trinity Road.

An alternative might be to scoot round the m25 and come in through Croydon.


Ade

 

[ackee911]

Avoid the A23-that is one bad road. Even though the M4 may be bad, its better then travelling along the M25.

Traffic in London depends a lot on your journey time, but tfl.gov.uk has a live feed with cameras etc covering london

 

[MBManInKen]

Even though the M4 may be bad, its better then travelling along the M25.

That is just not true in this case. I do that route a lot of the time and anti clockwise going round from the West towards the South, then up through Croydon as AdeB says is quite a feasible drive. Much longer in distance but far less frustrating a drive.

 

[Ade B]

Small consolation, lots of free parking round SE19.

Ade

 

[ackee911]

That is just not true in this case. I do that route a lot of the time and anti clockwise going round from the West towards the South, then up through Croydon as AdeB says is quite a feasible drive. Much longer in distance but far less frustrating a drive.

Maybe less frustrating, but less time-consuming? Once you leave the M23 and start going through coulsdon, purley, croydon, thornton heath, norbury etc the frustration will probably kick back. Traffic lights every hundred metres, zebra crossings etc.

I understand the south circular is like this too, but at least you'll be driving less distance.

And remember, there only has to be one accident on the M25 for your journey time to extend hours. At least once you're on the south circular you can divert.

 

[MBManInKen]

Maybe less frustrating, but less time-consuming? Once you leave the M23 and start going through coulsdon, purley, croydon, thornton heath, norbury etc the frustration will probably kick back. Traffic lights every hundred metres, zebra crossings etc.

I understand the south circular is like this too, but at least you'll be driving less distance.

You'll spend a lot less time on the smaller roads than going in through the West. As I said, the overall distance is longer, but you'll be spending that anti clockwise on the M25 rather than making your way through inner London. I've tried both approaches on more than one occasion and the M25 route by far has my preference. Each to their own of course.

And remember, there only has to be one accident on the M25 for your journey time to extend hours. At least once you're on the south circular you can divert.

You can get off the M25 at pretty much every junction between the M4 and the M23 if there is an accident ahead that block the motorway. Plenty of road works and accidents on the smaller roads inside the M25 that can cause the same havoc. I use TMC on COMAND to tell me what's going on ahead on the M25 and that works well for me to help adjust the strategy.

 

[popuptoaster]

Having a dented car BEFORE you go in really helps, and expect the sat nav top cut out under overpasses and between buildings fairly regulally, i dont get stressed driving in london, but then i expect to be late and never try to hurry, i find parking more stresfull than driving, its either bloody hard to find or really expensive.

 

[ackee911]

You'll spend a lot less time on the smaller roads than going in through the West. As I said, the overall distance is longer, but you'll be spending that anti clockwise on the M25 rather than making your way through inner London. I've tried both approaches on more than one occasion and the M25 route by far has my preference. Each to their own of course.



You can get off the M25 at pretty much every junction between the M4 and the M23 if there is an accident ahead that block the motorway. Plenty of road works and accidents on the smaller roads inside the M25 that can cause the same havoc. I use TMC on COMAND to tell me what's going on ahead on the M25 and that works well for me to help adjust the strategy.

Funny you bought that up, I have never been able to get TMC to work on my car. It never seems to find a station. Wondering why for quite some time.

Back on subject, the volume of traffic on the M25 is much more so within minutes you'll get a very long tailback. And unless you are near a junction, you WILL have to stay on the motorway dong nothing.


I'll give it to you, that maybe the M25/A23 route is less frustrating, but the chances of something going wrong and causing major problems to your journey are pretty high.

 

[MBManInKen]

expect the sat nav top cut out under overpasses and between buildings fairly regulally

Not a problem you would have with an integrated system like COMAND that uses an external aerial with amplifier and has the logic to keep going in tunnels and underpasses even if signals are blocked for a while. I've never had my COMAND do even as much as hickup while driving through Central London.

i find parking more stresfull than driving, its either bloody hard to find or really expensive.

Quite a fair assessment of parking in Central London . The OP's destination is quite some way out of the central zone, though, so will be a lot easier.